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Proposition 13 revisited

Judith Segard Hunt
Friday October 18, 2002

To the Editor: 

 

A generation of time has elapsed since the California state constitution was amended by the notorious Proposition 13, which cut and capped property taxes with attendant damage to vital social services. The children of those who voted for Proposition 13 are now grown and paying the price. 

The public schools they attended were, and are, starved for funds. Exorbitant property taxes on current home buyers compensate for the largesse extended to large corporations and old-time homeowners. Consequently, they are taxed essentially the same amount as they were 25 years ago. 

Why don’t some of the young liberal activists join together to place a repeal of Proposition 13 on the ballot?  

There surely should be enough votes for its defeat from those born too late to benefit. Law students give time to the legal problems of the poor and elderly. Is there a law against those students helping themselves and their peers? 

 

Judith Segard Hunt 

Berkeley